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City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #6) – Paperback, 638 pages – Published February 1st 2015 by Walker

Wow. I cannot believe the series is over.

I started this series thinking it was just another paranormal YA series, which it was in some ways, but I ended up falling in love with it as the series progressed. Now I’m gonna have to go and buy the gorgeous box set and read them a dozen times over.

If you’re not familiar with these books, you can check out my reviews of the first five books (starting with number one). I may actually be re-reviewing these in a while though, as I’ve come to appreciate them a whole lot more now.

So, where to start… The plot? Complicated but great. Action, tons of heartache, and a sprinkle of love. The ending is super sweet, too. Maybe a bit too neat and happy, but I’m a cynic. Honestly, it was nice to see them all find happiness at last.

The characters. Oh, the characters! I love them all. The use of the relationships in the plot is fantastic (and super sad), and the character development is pretty strong, too. The relationship between Clary and Jace becomes more *ahem* intimate, while Magnus and Alec finally get to talk about what happened between them. As for Isabelle and Simon… you’ll have to read it yourself to see what happens to them.

I find that Clare’s writing in these novels has a really distinct, iconic feel. From the first page, I was immersed in the Shadowhunting world, despite it having been a while since I read the previous novel. And although the book is long – over 600 pages – it didn’t feel tedious or boring. It took me a while to read it due to school work, but I did find myself having to force myself to put the book down and go to sleep.

Like I said, I have grown fonder of this series with each passing book. I’m going to start the series over again soon to see if I still feel the same way as before, but for now I’m going to give this finale a 4.5-star rating. Not quite in my favourites, but after a re-read it may be!

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #4) – eBook, 377 pages – Published April 5th 2011 by Walker Books

This series is so exciting! I’m absolutely loving it.

This installment of The Mortal Instrumentsseries follows Simon a lot more, including his difficulties caused by his being a Daylighter vampire. We also get an insight to his love-life which is getting rather complicated…

Clary and Jace are together at last, but his nightmares are keeping them apart. Clary takes him to see the Silent Brothers to find out the cause of these bad dreams, but it turns out to be far worse than they anticipated.

Lilith – a greater demon – features heavily in this book, as well as the head vampire, Camille. Alec and Magnus have their dating difficulties, and Luke and Jocelyn are trying to prepair for their wedding while the Clave is dealing with a demon-worshipping cult and multiple dead Shadowhunters. So yeah, a lot is going on.

I like how we are able to find out more about Simon’s way of life in this book, and the whole issue with Alec being mortal while his boyfriend is immortal is a great, very intriguing addition to the plot. Seriously, I hope they work it out, though. They’re such a great couple.

As for Maia’s ex-boyfriend, who we’ve heard nasty tales about in previous books…

This may be one of my favourite books in the series so far, full of action and emotion and tons of excitement. The descriptions are wonderful, and there always seems to be the perfect amount of dialogue. I’m really falling in love with Cassandra Clare’s writing.

I don’t think I can say this is my favourite series quite yet, mainly because it is yet another typical YA paranormal novel. But this book in particular definitely deserves a strong 4 stars.

At 500 pages, I was slightly worried about this. The other two books were rather long too, and I had no problem with those, but I still feared that I would tire of this partway through. That was luckily not the case – far from, in fact.

We’re still following Clary and her Shadowhunter friends, trying to take down Valentine before he puts his plan into action while simultaneously trying to revive Clary’s mother from her coma. There’s a situation between both Clary and Simon and Clary and Jace – the latter being really rather awkward – and also a little thing going on between Alec and Magnus.

In this book, Clary finds herself in Alicante, the capital city of Idris, without any given permission. She also finds Simon there, locked up in the Gard. I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say that the whole sibling situation with Valentine’s children is finally cleared up, in such an incredibly believable-yet-unbelievable way. Also, we’re reunited with Hodge and a few members of the Seelie Court. Oh, and Luke’s pack of werewolves, Raphael and the vampires, and we even meet a couple of angels. Nice.

This book contains a lot of past information, details about Valentine and what he did to his children. It brings a lot of clarity, and really makes you think, I understand now. Valentine is getting ever closer to executing his plan fully, and the Shadowhunters have to learn to work with the Downworlders rather than against them. Spies hidden among the Clave are brought to justice, and one very unexpected character is introduced, before being killed off again. I do have my doubts about his death though…

As for Valentine… Well, if you don’t already know, you may as well go and read the book.

Usually I find that I prefer the first books in a series, but so far this is actually my favourite. It isn’t quite an all-time favourite of mine, but I’d be more than happy to reread it. There’s a lot of the typical YA paranormal stuff going on in here, making it not all that unique. That being said, it is really well written and very exciting and action-packed. I am wondering what the next few books are actually going to be about, now that the whole situation with Valentine and the Mortal Instruments has been cleared up…

So yeah, this is a really good book that I would definitely recommend to lovers of YA novels, dystopian and paranormal books. I found myself struggling to put it down, wanting to just read on and on to the end despite the length. I think 4.5 stars is a decent rating for this.

(P.S. I totally didn’t constantly think of Supernatural throughout this, especially not at the references to the Mark of Cain.)

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #1) – Paperback, 442 pages – Published July 2nd 2007 by Walker Books

I’ve heard so much about this series, so I’ve got the whole series out of the library. It’s nearly midnight; I’ve stayed up reading until I finished this book!

This sounds like any other paranormal YA book really, and I suppose it is pretty much the same as all the others in many ways. But it’s a great read, with its own unique twists and advantages.

Clarissa, a 15-year-old red-head who lives with her mother, is the protagonist of this novel. She’s just like any other girl – until she sees someone being followed by people that nobody else can see. After witnessing these people destroy a demon in the storage room of a club, Clary knows her life is never going to be the quite the same.

Accompanied by Jace, Isabelle, Alec and her good friend Simon, Clary begins to learn about her heritage, just as her mother is kidnapped by a monstrous creature. The rescue mission is complicated – people often turn out to be different than who they first appear to be – and not without it’s difficulties. Clary has to unravel the lies that her life has been built upon, all the while dealing with the confusing emotions of both her and her friends.

This book is full of action! Fight scenes galore! It really is an exciting read, which is somewhat surprising due to the length. I often find that longer books get a little too dragged-on, but that was not the case with City of Bones. I’m really excited about the rest of this series.

The characters and the relationships between them are wonderful. I don’t want to include any spoilers, but things between Jace and Clary are so complicated, and it’s fascinating to see how their relationship is affected by the occurrences in this book. The less prominent characters, such as Hodge and Luke, are also full of emotion and depth. Their back-stories are amazing, and I found it easy to feel the same emotions towards them as Clary did at any given time.

Another thing that I really liked is the little details in this book. The foreshadowing, for example, and the inclusion of Alec being gay, but not openly. It’s the little things that really submerge you in the world of a book.

I really did enjoy reading this, but it isn’t quite in my favourites. It’s thrilling and full of action and emotion, as well as tons of plot twists. I’d say 4.5 stars!

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson – Paperback, 429 pages – Published April 2nd 2015 by Walker Books

(Self-portrait: Book Remakes Girl)

Oh my Clark Gable. I’ll Give You the Sun is simply amazing. It’s a piece or artwork in itself, a definite new favourite of mine.

Alternating between twins Noah and Jude, I’ll Give You the Sun is two alternating stories that twist together in ways so unexpected and so perfect that you’ll undoubtedly want to read to the end without putting the book down. The Invisible Museum of Noah, aged 13 to 14, and The History of Luck, 16-year-old’s Jude’s story, are amazing on their own, but then they start to fit together so tremendously, and every little thing makes so much sense… I can’t describe how amazing I found this book.

Jude and Noah were close; Noah was always painting, inside his head and out, and Jude was out being a badass daredevil, and building her flying women in the sand. But a horrific accident involving their mother sends them both tumbling, and the relationship between them is ruined.

But although all hope seems lost, the now-boycotting Jude finds the answer in such an unexpected way and suddenly everything falls back into place.

And Noah, after having his heart ripped out by his own actions, has to decide between telling the truth about his mother or keeping her secrets hidden beneath lies.

I love the style and layout of this book. The cover alone is wonderful, but the pages themselves are all so unique and interesting, I loved it at soon as I turned to the first page. It’s not too busy or intricate, just simple little doodles and such giving each page a bit of character. And every cover I’ve seen is nice and minimalistic too. (If you want to look the book up and see the over editions and covers you can look at it on Goodreads.)

A story of family struggles, individual troubles, love and heartbreak, I’ll Give You the Sun is simply beautiful. I’m dying to read it again, even after finishing it just ten minutes ago! A full 5 stars for this gorgeous book.